Alright, the title may be a bit misleading or wrong, but I wasn't sure what else to put. We all know how HUGE Apple is, and how it's taking over the computing realm and everything, right? Well how come when you really look at it it still seems like everything is for PC? I mean, most downloadable games and software is only made for PC, many gaming titles were only or originally made for PC... it seems like Microsoft has sort of taken on a default role and Apple is more the "late to the party but available for those that want/can afford me". Any thoughts?

I've been using a Mac for many years now, and at no point have I been unable to find OS X equivalents of Windows software. Often, the very same package is available. There's a ton of software available, and with things like the app store and Apple's (fairly enticing, if I may say so, development platform), I can only see the production rate increasing.

I've been using a Mac for many years now, and at no point have I been unable to find OS X equivalents of Windows software. Often, the very same package is available. There's a ton of software available, and with things like the app store and Apple's (fairly enticing, if I may say so, development platform), I can only see the production rate increasing.

I'm mainly talking about games etc. Many internet download games are not remade for Macs, and there's a very limited number of Mac games available in stores. Well, maybe there are still plenty, but they're all very expensive and hard to find. For example: The Sims 2. I bought it from Amazon. I got it used, but new is was $300. That is partially because it is an older game right now, but the PC version was a grand total of $4.

historically macs have used the 'wrong' processor for gaming; rewriting a game for a mac would take a lot of work, and the market just wasnt there to justify the time / costs.

recently macs have moved over to using 'traditional' PC cpus, so adapting a game for a mac isnt as bad. still, macs need a lot of work to catch up to PCs in the gaming arena.

windows has a history of supporting a vast array of hardware, and continues to support the latest and greatest hardware for gaming. windows also has a history of supporting a ton of 3rd party software, allows for tons of user-made software, and provides a robust graphics environment known as directx. because of this, people have been gaming on PCs for years and years, and the windows platform has a very large demographic of gamers now.

a lot of people build gaming PCs (because its cheaper than buying pre-built, and you can choose the exact parts you want), and unless you go the hackintosh route, you have to buy a preconfigured mac and upgrade from there; its the costlier method, since for example, if you want a very beefy GPU, you often have to buy a mac with a so-so / bad GPU, then buy the GPU you want on top of that. then youll likely have to replace the PSU in your mac as well (same as if you bought a preconfigured PC that wasnt gaming oriented). then on top of that, macs dont support all the GPUs windows does, and driver support is often much weaker. you also dont have access to all the mature 3rd party / user made graphics tweaking software you can find in windows under osx (games are generally less efficient / run worse on a mac, as things currently are).

theres a lot more to say on the topic, but ultimately, when it comes to games, windows is just a much more mature environment for gaming (software / hardware-wise), with a much larger demographic of users which game developers/publishers want so they can sell more copies.

since macs now use 'traditional' PC hardware (mostly), you can install windows on your mac (bootcamp) and just play games that way.

The lack of games in Macs is really a problem of spreading the product. Not many people buy Macs saying "Oh, I'm so gonna run so many games on it!". Macs are not gaming computers. If you use a lot of Windows and Mac on your daily life you will see that a Mac can help you increase your productivity. I would say Macs are perfect machines to work with. Not saying Windows is bad for that, but personally I have found Macs to be better for work (and I don't play computer games, so it's perfect).

quote ashantiqua

you often have to buy a mac with a so-so / bad GPU, then buy the GPU you want on top of that

Macs don't have poor or so-so hardware in general. The GPU in the latest MacBook Pro's is more than great, and perfect enough to run most popular games that could be played in a Windows PC. Not to mention it has to support the outstanding retina display, which offers a resolution that is a lot bigger and a lot better than many laptops currently in the market, including high-end machines. 1 GB DDR5 is powerful enough to run many games and to do heavy work with graphics and animation related tasks.

Not to mention, Macs are great due to their stability. I have had the same MacBook Pro for years now and I have never had a single performance issue. Part of this great stability is thanks to the tight integration between their hardware and OS. If you are buying a Mac with the intention of switching hardware around (except for common RAM or hard drive upgrades), then you are doing it wrong and you are buying the wrong machine. Get a Windows Computer or Linux computer if your final goal is customization.

All in all. Like games? Get a Windows PC, but don't think Macs have poor hardware because of that. Nowadays there's not many games in Mac because people are not writing them. Period. That's all there is to the lack of games. It has nothing to do with the hardware because Macs do have powerful hardware, and you can "customize" them to your needs if you buy them online. Yes, they are expensive specially if you buy them with upgrades, but at least personally, I would spend more money on a stable computer.

That aside, like Aurora, I have found alternatives for all the software I used to use in Windows. And the App Store makes them even more accessible.

"Nowadays there's not many games in Mac because people are not writing them. Period."

just a wee bit incorrect. ok, very incorrect. fine, borderline retarded even. the question is *why* arent people making as many games for macs compared to windows. game companies need money to stay in business; you know, paying their employees, making a profit and all that. for *gaming*, you can buy superior hardware under windows. for *gaming*, windows has more mature software. and most importantly, for *gaming*, waaaaay more people are running PCs, which means game companies can sell their product to more people. regarding the latter, its the same reason why developing games for the iphone makes sense (a *ton* of people have em) and why people write so many viruses for PCs (you can infect a ton more users).

"The GPU in the latest MacBook Pro's is more than great"1 GB DDR5 is powerful enough to run many games

1GB of vram is enough to play many games @ 1920 x 1080 or lower. and the gtx 650m (whats in the new macbook pro) isnt exactly a powerhouse compared to whats offered in gaming laptops, let alone desktop GPUs.

furthermore, 1GB of vram isnt even close to enough vram to properly use the retina display's resolution (1880p) in games.

dayz, for example, at 1440p, with settings at medium, is well beyond my GPU's 1.25GB of vram. i regularly max out my 1.25GB of vram in all sorts of games. this is why you see new GPUs with 1.5GB - 4GB of vram (high resolution gaming is very vram / bandwidth demanding).

coming down to it (again), macs simply do not support all the GPUs windows does (laptop GPUs are shit compared to desktop GPUs too). mac drivers dont even support crossfire / sli in any way.

no one here is saying macs have poor hardware overall, and comparing windows to osx for anything but games is besides the point, and isnt answering the OPs question.

in short: why you dont see all the games being made for windows also being made for macs: - weaker GPU support- less people on macs, so less potential customers- less mature gaming software platform (the same hardware often yields slightly worse performance on a mac vs PC for games)

just makes more financial sense to make games for windows. more people to sell your game to (just image if starcraft 2 was mac exclusive ), and the PC gaming community is very active and buys a ton of very powerful graphics hardware. put yourself in the shoes of a game developer.

Gaming ----- Games are developed on Microsoft's DirectX first and foremost, while Linux and Mac use OpenGL, which is a less developed standard. Porting between PC and Xbox is simple, because they both use DirectX (The Xbox was originally called the DirectXbox, but was changed to Xbox for marketing) Most Mac computers are also laptops, therefor they usually do not have a dedicated powerful graphics card inside of them. That's not good for gaming. And the only alternative to that is the insanely overpriced Mac Pro, which most people do not buy, and those who do, do not do so for gaming, usually. Most people who want to spend that much for a gaming computer buy a PC, because they can get more power for less money. Since the majority of Mac devices are laptops, it leaves almost no room for any sort of upgrading, or in the newer generation of macbooks, due to Apple's use of glue instead of screws, upgrading is for all practical purposes, impossible. Which means developers are stuck waiting for the next generation of macbook, in the same way developers wait for the next generation of PS4 or Xbox. That doesn't entice developers to develop for the platform.

Apps ----- There are simply less users on the Mac, so less developers take the time to develop for it. They want to make money, so they go where there are the most customers. It takes time and money to develop for any platform, and a lot of developers either have too little of either to do both Windows and Mac. Also, the fact that there are more apps for Windows solidifies its popularity in the same way the number of apps for iOS solidifies the iPhone's popularity. People want apps. First and foremost. Currently there is not enough incentive for developers to make Mac apps in nearly the same rate as on Windows. Windows is a good platform because people can be relatively assured that if they need to do something, there is an app for that.

Honestly, I think the only solution to this problem is for Apple to release their OS as a standalone software, instead of being something restricted only to their own native hardware. That would allow Windows users to install Mac on their PC, in the same way Windows can be installed on a Mac. Unfortunately, that would mean less incentive from consumers to buy Apple's overpriced hardware, which they immensely profit from. So Apple is unlikely to do that.

There are solutions like hackintoshing, but unfortunately its impossible with most hardware configurations, and is in most cases illegal to do so. If you're going to blame anyone for the lack of app and game availability on Mac, look no further than Apple.

I've been using a Mac for many years now, and at no point have I been unable to find OS X equivalents of Windows software. Often, the very same package is available. There's a ton of software available, and with things like the app store and Apple's (fairly enticing, if I may say so, development platform), I can only see the production rate increasing.

Yes, and no. There may be a Mac version of a program, but that version is usually less developed than its Windows counterpart. There's also the issue of options. I was looking for a program to edit subtitles the other day, and I could find 6 different reputable subtitle editing programs for Windows, but only 1 for Mac and Linux. That would mean if that 1 program didn't have the features you were looking for, you're out of luck.